A History of European Art

Lecture 6: Giotto and the Arena Chapel—Part I

parents, and continues back toward the entrance door. It then moves to the

top tier on the left-hand side of the chapel and continues back to the altar

wall. The last narrative scene is Mary’s Wedding Procession. There are 12

scenes in all.

At the top, the arched altar wall depicts God sending the Angel Gabriel to

tell Mary of the divine child she is to bear; the Annunciation À anks the arch,

with the Angel Gabriel on the left and Mary on the right. The middle tier

of the right-hand wall begins at the altar end with the Nativity, the birth of

Jesus, and moves through the stories of his early childhood. Then, jumping

across to the north side, the narrative continues, mostly with stories of Jesus’

ministry. The bottom tier on the south wall continues with the last events

of Jesus’ life, from the Last Supper to the Mocking of Christ, and on the

opposite wall, with the Procession to Calvary and the Cruci¿ xion, on through

the events after Jesus’ death, ending at the

altar wall once more. The only wall that

we have not mentioned or seen so far is

the interior of the entrance wall, where

Giotto painted the Last Judgment.

For the remainder of this lecture and the

next, we will look more closely at some

of the most signi¿ cant of these scenes in

narrative order. The ¿ rst reproduction

contains the Triumphal Arch with the

Altar, including the Annunciation, Pact of Judas, and Visitation. On the altar,

we see Giovanni Pisano’s Madonna and Child (c. 1305). This sculpture has a

French À air, suggesting that Giovanni had seen French Gothic sculpture and

highlighting the difference between Giovanni and his father, Nicola, who

showed strong Classical tendencies.

Note the following sources for the life of the Virgin and the life of Christ.

Keep in mind that artists had other sources besides the Old and New

Testaments to consult when elaborating their painted narratives. For the

legends of the Virgin Mary and her parents, see the Apocryphal Gospel of St.

James the Less and the Gospel of the Pseudo-Matthew. The famous Golden

Because the painting

of an area of wet

plaster must stop when

the plaster dries, the

medium requires speed

and con¿ dence.